


A Romance Under Nightfall

by RosaMaria1936



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:54:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27389038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosaMaria1936/pseuds/RosaMaria1936
Summary: A nightfall event comes to town, and Akko is determined to have Lotte and Barbara go with each other. Meanwhile tensions rise between Hannah and Barbara over their friendship.
Relationships: Barbara Parker/Lotte Yanson, Hannah England/Amanda O'Neill
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	A Romance Under Nightfall

The Sun shined over Luna Nova Academy on a calm Saturday evening. Lotte Jansson sat in the courtyard on the bench catching up on some Nightfall. Lotte chuckled to herself with excitement thinking of how much fun she was going to have tomorrow at the Nightfall fan meetup in Blytonbury. Her golden locks bounced with the rhythm of her laughter. In the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of her cheery friend akko running up to her.

“Lotte! Whatcha up to? More nightfall I see”, Akko said looking inquisitively over her friend’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m getting myself in the mood for tomorrow. It's gonna be so fun.”

“Oh yeah, there's that nightfall meetup in Blytonbury. Why don’t you ask Barbara to come with you, I’m sure she was planning to go, and she’s the only person I know who loves Nightfall as much as you and then you guys should go get something to eat afterwards”, suggested Akko. In that instant Lotte’s smile turned into a nervous frown and her face filled with a blush red. In her mind flashed to many images of time spent with Barbara, reading, laughing, hanging out. She reminisced on the time Barbara finally confessed that she was a fan of the series as well and how they spent that whole night binging the book, or the time when Barbara had asked Lotte for help putting together an Annabel cosplay. She couldn’t exactly place her fingers on it, but her time with Barbara was some of the best times of her life.

“A-Akko, I can’t ask Barbara, I-I just can’t”, sputtered Lotte while looking down and juggling her copy of Nightfall volume 365. “Hm? Why not?”

“I know why”, uttered suddenly and Ominously by Sucy out of nowhere.

“WUUAAGH”, Screamed Akko as she jumped back.

“SUCY, don’t scare me like that”, scolded Akko.

“I don’t do it intentionally, you’re just a scaredy cat.”

“Ugh, anyways, what do you mean by you ‘know why’”, Questioned Akko with a puzzled look on her face.

“I should’ve known you’d not be smart enough to figure it out on your own, but it's obvious that Lotte loves Barbara and that Barbara loves Lotte”, explained Sucy in her usual monotone demeanor.

“S-SUCY!, y-you can’t just make claims like that. Barbara and I are only friends and that's that”, Lotte Rushed away from the bench and into the west hallway.

“Hmmmm. If what you say is true Sucy...then we must do something about”, resolved Akko whilst pointing her finger to the sky.

“We?”

“Yes, of course we, Sucy! We can’t allow Lotte to pass up the love of her life”, Akko protested with one leg up on the bench and her fist clenched.

“Well I'll leave you to that, I have some mushrooms to tend to anyways”, Sucy remarked shruggingly. Akko dashed after Lotte into the hallway. She saw her hanging her head low and standing still with her books in her arms just thinking to herself.

“Lotte! I want to help you”, Akko said trying to catch her breath from running.

“There is nothing to help me with”, Lotte said firmly, her eyes darting around the room looking for an escape from this tight situation.

“Nonsense, I am going to ask Barbara to go with you to the Nightfall gathering, so that way you don't need to be scared of doing it yourself”, Akko said reassuringly and grabbing Lotte’s Hand. Lotte’s face filled with red once again at that thought. That was just unthinkable to her.

“A-akko! Are you crazy? Y-You can’t just go and say that to Barbara” Lotte said trembling at that thought.

“But, Lotte you cannot just pass this wonderful opportunity. Forget what Sucy said, Think of it like you’re just hanging out as friends”. Akko’s acknowledgement of Barbara being a “friend” of Lotte’s, relieved her but also saddened her at the same time.

“Akko listen here, under no circumstances will you tell or ask Barbara anything about me, understand?”, Said Lotte forcefully. Akko was taken aback, this was the most aggressive she had seen Lotte. Akko let out a defeated sigh.

“Hmph, Fiiiiiine.”

“Thank you, Now I’m going to the Library. I’ll see ya Akko”, finished Lotte, with a somewhat melancholic expression on her face. Akko had a frown on her face, but when Lotte walked off, her frown soon turned into a wide mischievous smile.

“What are you planning?”, Said Sucy once again out of nowhere.

“WUUAAGH, SUCY! WHAT DID I TELL YOU”, screamed akko once again after recoiling backwards from her friend’s question.

“ _Sigh_ , You’re over-exaggerating at this point, but I know what you’re planning and I think it's a good idea”, remarked Sucy. Akko turned her head in a puzzled twist.

“How do you even know what I’m planning.”

“You’re going to go against Lotte’s wishes and tell Barbara to go with her”, explained Sucy. Akko’s puzzled look turned into a blank slate.

“Well...You’re right, that was my plan. I’m surprised you think it's an ok idea, I was expecting the usual condescending Sucy talk about me”, Akko remarked with her arms crossed and nose turned up in the air.

“I need Lotte out of the dorm more often anyways, I’ve been doing some real messy experiments”, chuckled Sucy.

“Is that all you care about! This is the love of Lotte’s life and i'm not gonna let her pass it up! Where’s Barbara?”

“Probably in her room”, Sucy answered pointing in the direction of the more luxurious dormitories which Hannah, Barbara, and Diana were provided with.

“Thank you Sucy! I’m off to go make Lotte’s dreams come true!”, Akko triumphantly remarked, while racing towards the dormitories. Sucy Shrugged and walked in the other direction. Akko dashed up the stairs to the third floor. It was apparent to all onlookers that she was on a mission. She turned a left corner and nearly bumped face first into Diana.

“Waaah! Diana! I’m sorry can’t talk, I gotta go”, Akko huffed as she continued her pace.

“Akko! Wait!”, Diana yelled, her words going unheeded. Akko finally reached the dormitory. She took a few paces forward and knocked lightly on the wooden door.

“Who is iiit?”, answered a voice from the other side.

“It’s me Akko, I’m looking for Barbara”, replied Akko, still attempting to catch her breath. Hannah opened the door, giving Akko the usual smug grin.

“What sort of business could Atsuko Kagari have with Barbara?”, Hannah said, chuckling.

“I don’t have time for this Hannah, I need to ask Barbara something for Lotte”, Immediately upon Akko uttering the word “Lotte”, Barbara who was seated at a desk in the corner of the room, reading Nightfall perked up and ran to the door pushing Hannah out of the way.

“W-what does Lotte need to a-ask me?”, Barbara desperately questioned, while still stepping on Hannah. “She wants to ask if you’d like to go with her tomorrow to Blytonbury to attend the Nightfall gathering, and then afterwards, have some dinner with each other in town”, Akko announced triumphantly to Barbara.

“L-Lotte w-wants to...w-with me”, Immediately all of the blood in Barbara’s body rushed to her face. She was nearly going to faint on top of Hannah.

“Will you get off of me!”, Hannah protested, while regaining her balance. “What would Barbara even want with, You-never-know-she’s-there-or-not-Lotte anyways.”

“YES!”, Barbara screamed, causing Hannah to recoil and trip backwards over herself once again, “Yes of course, I’ll go, what time should I meet her?”

“Come to our dormitory at 10 o’clock tomorrow morning and Lotte will be waiting for you”, Akko said with a sly grin.

“Brilliant, I’ll be there. Tell Lotte I’ll be meeting her~”, Barbara said with a wave as Akko turned the other direction. Barbara shut the door and turned the other direction, falling face first on her bed in ecstasy. Barbara wasn’t quite sure what she was feeling at that moment. The same reminiscence which Lotte felt earlier. Barbara thought about Lotte’s cute giggle, and the way she recited every fact regarding Nightfall like a dictionary. It felt like a dream for Barbara.

“You aren’t...actually going with her, are you?”, Hannah backhandedly questioned, picking herself from off the ground once again. Barbara jutted her head from off the bed with an annoyed expression towards Hannah.

“Of course I’m going!”, Barbara snapped. “Why do you care anyways, you don’t even like the book or Lotte.”

“Because, there is no reason why Barbara Parker should be hanging out with...Lotte. I tolerate everything else you two have done, but...this! Hanging out all day and then getting DINNER! That's outrageous”, Hannah protested continually, whilst holding back tears in her eyes.

“What is your problem?”, Barbara firmly responded to her friend’s protest.

“You are my problem, you never want to hang out that often with me anymore and instead spend it with people like Lotte. You treat me like I don’t even exist…”, Hannah sadly replied. Barbara got up and took a step towards her, with clear anger in her eyes from the repeated insults towards Lotte.

“Lotte is a very nice and sweet girl, and if you cannot understand that I have my own life outside of our friendship then maybe...we need some space”, Barbara resolved. She looked down with sadness in her eyes, nearly forming tears herself.

“Fine then! Go have fun with Lotte!”, Hannah yelled while running out of the room crying. She slammed the door leaving Barbara on the other side. Barbara slumped down on her bed and began to cry into the bed sheets. She wondered why Hannah had to be like this, why she had to be like this towards Lotte of all people, the kindest person at Luna Nova. There was obviously more to this than Barbara simply just hating Lotte. Barbara thought about what Diana might do in this situation.

“Would Diana cave into this and decide not to go?”, she thought to herself. “Of Course not. Diana is not the person to cave to the whims of other people. She is always focused directly on her own goals”. Barbara resolved that she must go with Lotte tomorrow, but she must find some way to resolve things with Hannah. “Perhaps, she just needs some time to cool off”, she thought. Meanwhile Hannah ran down the hall with tears in her eyes. Upon turning the corner she ran right into Diana

“Ouch…”

“Are you alright?”, asked Diana. "It seems Akko is not the only one who seems to be in a rush today."

Hannah had her head down, with her witch hat blocking her face. She didn’t want Diana to see her like this, but she could not hold it in any longer.

“NO! I’m not alright”, Hannah blurted out shakingly.

“Hm. It seems there is more wrong here than just a little fall. Come with me”, Diana waved in the direction of the library and Hannah followed. When they got to the library Diana found a secluded area and they sat down.

“So tell me. What happened”, Diana asked calmly.

“W-well, I just had a fight with Barbara”, Hannah said, with her head looking down shamefully, stray tears still staining her uniform.

“That much is obvious, I could hear the screaming from around the corner, but what was it about?”, Diana questioned with her usual inquisitive elegance.

“Barbara is going to be attending an event tomorrow with Lotte. More and more often lately it seems like Barbara just doesn’t care about me, and pushes me to the side in favor of other people. Like she doesn’t even care about our friendship anymore…”, Hannah explained to Diana in a weak voice. Diana took a moment to think and closed her eyes.

“So it is your assumption that Barbara no longer values being friends with you? Have you ever sought to talk to her about this matter before this situation”, Diana raised an eyebrow and leaned in.

“Uh, well...no I haven’t. I didn’t want to say anything to preserve our friendship and not make things awkward”, Hannah explained.

“To deliberately withhold a criticism, even against a friend for the sake of keeping the peace is irresponsible, and will only damage your unity in the long run, as today’s incident has shown”, Diana said with a calm yet stern look. “Because you’ve allowed this to go unsolved the problem has turned into an antagonistic contradiction between you two”. Hannah sighed shamefully. “I will talk to Barbara about this matter and see if something can’t be worked out between you, because that is a valid concern.”

“T-Thank you Diana”, Hannah said weakly. “But I can’t stay there in the dorm tonight, It’d be too awkward, and Barbara probably hates me right now.”

“It’s against school rules to spend the night outside your dormitory, but in this case It would be wise to allow some time before attempting to talk to each other again. I will speak with the professors about allowing you to spend the night in another dorm for just this night”, Said Diana while standing up from her chair.

“Hey Diana!”, cried out Amanda O’neil from afar. “Whatcha up to.”

“You really should not shout in the library, but if you must know, Hannah here needs a place to stay tonight, while the bed in her room is being fixed”, Diana explained not wanting to divulge on Hannah’s personal matters.

“Oh really, well if you’re still looking then I’m sure Consey and Yasna wouldn't mind if you stayed with us”, Offered Amanda, giving her usual wide smile.

“Uh..well I guess so”, Hannah replied nervously, since she has always been nervous in the presence of Akko’s friends, fearing they’re always getting into some sort of trouble, especially Amanda. Amanda’s uncaring attitude towards school, her rebellious nature, and her laid back personality all scared Hannah, but simultaneously intrigued her and has made her admire Amanda. Hannah stood from her chair and followed her to their dorm walking nervously. “What would people think if they saw me walking beside Amanda...alone, and back to her dorm. We almost look like a...couple?!”, Hannah thought to herself. They soon approached Amanda’s room, and Amanda swung the door open. Inside Constanze was tinkering with a stanbot and Jasminka was munching on a bag of Fuwas. Constanze and Jasminka gave a confused look, wondering why Hannah of all people was with Amanda at their room.

“Hey guys, Hannah is staying with us for the night, so don't be strangers”, Amanda announced while flopping down on her bed. Constanze gave a nod and continued working. Jasminka looked over to Hannah and held up a Fuwa.

“Want one?”, Jasminka asked.

“N-no thank you.”, Hannah replied. She then took some blankets from their drawer to make a small bed on the floor for herself. She laid down looking up at the ceiling, hoping that barbara would not be too upset with her the next day.

“I’m sorry Barbara.”, She whispered to herself.


End file.
